Diet and Weightloss

[Seat68]

Lost my Mumsnet password. 
 

New Year and a fair few of us are trying to shift the post Christmas weight or the weight gained during lockdown. I certainly am. Thought I would start a thread to give advice, progress and a bit of cheerleading. 
I appreciate there will inevitably be people who will lecture and say x diet is wrong and you need to do this instead, thats cool you are awesome and I will definitely do that.

Personally I am looking at the least to lose 4-5 stone and I am broadly doing it via the diet that I have always done, and works for me and that is Slimming World. It allows me to eat food for weightloss and feel full at the end of a meal. Previously I lost 6 stone on this diet so I am comfortable with it. 
Today my first post Christmas weigh in was a 9lb loss. My plan is to get out for some form of exercise as that the area where I have failed since March. 

[A'Villan]

17 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

Lost my Mumsnet password. 
 

New Year and a fair few of us are trying to shift the post Christmas weight or the weight gained during lockdown. I certainly am. Thought I would start a thread to give advice, progress and a bit of cheerleading. 
I appreciate there will inevitably be people who will lecture and say x diet is wrong and you need to do this instead, thats cool you are awesome and I will definitely do that.

Personally I am looking at the least to lose 4-5 stone and I am broadly doing it via the diet that I have always done, and works for me and that is Slimming World. It allows me to eat food for weightloss and feel full at the end of a meal. Previously I lost 6 stone on this diet so I am comfortable with it. 
Today my first post Christmas weigh in was a 9lb loss. My plan is to get out for some form of exercise as that the area where I have failed since March. 

I can't recommend team sports highly enough.

Releasing endorphins with other people while working out your very being to the core, honing skills and working together, it's the best. Really is truly worth the effort.

Whether it's an organised domestic competition that caters to all skill levels, or a pickup game being held locally at a public space, get a feel for what's out there.

You meet like minded people, you might even make some friends worth remembering. And whether it's encouragement or adversity that drives you, you'll find it among others.

You get to know yourself, both your body and its current capacity but also yourself as a person, as you interact and deal with other people and the sport you're all playing.

[AVFC_Hitz]

I had a bit of a mental Christmas but still largely stayed the same weight, which was nice. I've still a long way to go on my weight loss journey. From 48/50" waist down to a 38" now. Whilst I'm still a bit of a chubster it's been incredible seeing my knob when I wash it in the shower. I'm going to continue on the Keto for another year and also keep doing my 5-aside once a week. I hope to get down to a 34" by July.

[Seat68]

13 minutes ago, AVFC_Hitz said:

I had a bit of a mental Christmas but still largely stayed the same weight, which was nice. I've still a long way to go on my weight loss journey. From 48/50" waist down to a 38" now. Whilst I'm still a bit of a chubster it's been incredible seeing my knob when I wash it in the shower. I'm going to continue on the Keto for another year and also keep doing my 5-aside once a week. I hope to get down to a 34" by July.

I may have asked this before but does keto rely on absolute strictness to be effective? In that a cheat day resets its effectiveness?

[KenjiOgiwara]

I've had this discussion so many times, as I've always done sports and took off 20 kg a few years ago and 12 kg of those in less than 2 months.

Firstly all people are different. There's no guarantee what's best for Bob, also is the right path for Joe.

But I will nail something down right away. You will often hear it's better to lose a little over long time than a lot quickly. That's utter rubbish.

Secondly people will try to tell you to workout. Don't. It's calorie game. That battle is won and lost in the kitchen. By working out, most people will feel the need to refuel and never lose weight, cause they will feel good about working out and the workout > energy intake. It doesn't.

I had a different situation losing weight, cause while I had excess fat I had lots of muscle. Thus It's wildly different for everyone. Maybe it was easier for me? Maybe losing muscle mass by starvation gives you a different 'hunger' than if it's fat? I dunno. I did a crisp bread diet and went from 3 k kcal a day to 800-1200. After  two weeks it was not difficult and I did not feel hunger.

But it takes discipline. Most people simply don't have it.

1) Don't workout.

2) Eat way less. Drink lots of water. Never have cheat days. Fill up on proteins. 

3) Don't give up.

4) Use a measuring tape on neck, thighs, belly etc. I regret not doing this. 

5) Take 1 photo each week. I did this and it's such a laugh to look at.

6) No people are similar. What worked for me, might not work for you. But be sure losing weight is just a calorie equation.

Sorry for the big post, but dropping weight was a mission for me and I feel it's an accomplishment. I will carry it proudly.

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by KenjiOgiwara

[snowychap]

1 hour ago, Seat68 said:

Lost my Mumsnet password. 
 

New Year and a fair few of us are trying to shift the post Christmas weight or the weight gained during lockdown. I certainly am. Thought I would start a thread to give advice, progress and a bit of cheerleading. 
I appreciate there will inevitably be people who will lecture and say x diet is wrong and you need to do this instead, thats cool you are awesome and I will definitely do that.

Personally I am looking at the least to lose 4-5 stone and I am broadly doing it via the diet that I have always done, and works for me and that is Slimming World. It allows me to eat food for weightloss and feel full at the end of a meal. Previously I lost 6 stone on this diet so I am comfortable with it. 
Today my first post Christmas weigh in was a 9lb loss. My plan is to get out for some form of exercise as that the area where I have failed since March. 

Good luck. No lecturing from me, only encouragement.

As per posts elsewhere, I've shed a (shed) load in the last year and a half (but mostly since last Jan) and, having always found it difficult to lose weight previously, it seems that some times it just clicks and also that people need to find the thing that works for them - to lose weight and to keep it off.

It's not, aptly, a one size fits all thing.

[Seat68]

@KenjiOgiwara some good points there, I never thought about the picture. I have a weigh in every monday morning but thats not the full story. 

[AVFC_Hitz]

8 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I may have asked this before but does keto rely on absolute strictness to be effective? In that a cheat day resets its effectiveness?

To start with strictness is absolutely necessary. You have to let your body adjust completely. Normal keto would be around 50g of carbs a day and then there is strict keto which is closer to 25g a day. Your body will take around a week to get into ketosis to begin with, so you will lose the effectiveness with too many cheat days early on. 

[snowychap]

35 minutes ago, AVFC_Hitz said:

it's been incredible seeing my knob when I wash it in the shower

[KenjiOgiwara]

Having cheat days on diets CAN be sensible to be fair, but it's so dependant on your discipline and cravings. A cheat day for me is a handful of chips and a single piece of chocolate with a glass of wine. For others it's a bag of chips and a bar of chocolate. Thus I think you need to know yourself before going on that.

[Seat68]

1 minute ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Having cheat days on diets CAN be sensible to be fair, but it's so dependant on your discipline and cravings. A cheat day for me is a handful of chips and a single piece of chocolate with a glass of wine. For others it's a bag of chips and a bar of chocolate. Thus I think you need to know yourself before going on that.

My cheat day is a burger and a bottle or two of wine, hence needing more discipline this time round and probably no cheat days for a couple of months. 

[Stevo985]

Calorie counting is the only thing that ever works for me. And I think most other diets, particularly fad diets, are just ways to trick you into eating less calories.

Get a calorie counting app (myfitnesspal for example), track everything you eat. Find out your BMR and subtract 500, eat that many calories every day. You'll lose a pound a week. 

[Sid4ever]

As @Stevo985says above, calorie counting is working for me, mainly by using portion control weighing out product instead of just throwing it in the pan.  Also, soup (homemade) is proving a god send, and fruit (probably haven't eaten fruit since before lockdown).

Another thing is no alcohol, as mentioned in the dry January thread, not drinking has cut out the late night snacks, and also I think @snowychapmentioned in a previous thread about not eating after 7pm.  That is something we have changed, previously we never ate until about 8pm, probably due to living in Cyprus and their late evening eating culture.

All told, about 9lbs gone in the first week.

[Mark Albrighton]

Agree with most of the above. Last year I dropped around 2 stone, the pubs being closed was a huge factor in that. I’ve put about 4 or 5 lbs of that back on over Christmas, ideally I’d like to lose another half a stone, maybe a touch more.

Exercise is great but for me it’s watching what I eat. Actually looking at the traffic code system is decent start, anything that has red, can remain unopened. And look for alternatives, veggie sausages aren’t the healthiest food, but they’re better than real meat sausages and they taste fine. It all adds up.

Taking pictures is a good idea. I didn’t as I wasn’t keen on photos of me. I’m slimmer now, but I still feel a bit flabby, you sort of get used to the “new you” and forget what you used to be like. There’s a before and after below, about a year apart, summer 2019 to summer 2020, but I started properly in January 2020 so not completely accurate, but you get a sense. The before picture while shit, is one I must have felt looked ok, as there aren’t many others of me at the time (I’m doing a few things there to reduce the size, head slightly held back to avoid a double chin for example). The shit shirt I’m wearing in 2019 doesn’t help matters, I know. 

Oh and this is a bit drastic, but it helps. When you reach your goal, buy an expensive bit of clothing, that’s a good enough incentive to remain that size. That’s kept me in line anyway.

Best of luck to all going for it.

 

[fightoffyour]

1 hour ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

I've had this discussion so many times, as I've always done sports and took off 20 kg a few years ago and 12 kg of those in less than 2 months.

Firstly all people are different. There's no guarantee what's best for Bob, also is the right path for Joe.

But I will nail something down right away. You will often hear it's better to lose a little over long time than a lot quickly. That's utter rubbish.

Secondly people will try to tell you to workout. Don't. It's calorie game. That battle is won and lost in the kitchen. By working out, most people will feel the need to refuel and never lose weight, cause they will feel good about working out and the workout > energy intake. It doesn't.

I had a different situation losing weight, cause while I had excess fat I had lots of muscle. Thus It's wildly different for everyone. Maybe it was easier for me? Maybe losing muscle mass by starvation gives you a different 'hunger' than if it's fat? I dunno. I did a crisp bread diet and went from 3 k kcal a day to 800-1200. After  two weeks it was not difficult and I did not feel hunger.

But it takes discipline. Most people simply don't have it.

1) Don't workout.

2) Eat way less. Drink lots of water. Never have cheat days. Fill up on proteins. 

3) Don't give up.

4) Use a measuring tape on neck, thighs, belly etc. I regret not doing this. 

5) Take 1 photo each week. I did this and it's such a laugh to look at.

6) No people are similar. What worked for me, might not work for you. But be sure losing weight is just a calorie equation.

Sorry for the big post, but dropping weight was a mission for me and I feel it's an accomplishment. I will carry it proudly.

 

 

 

You’re certainly right about different methods for different people because I would say the complete opposite apart from the discipline part.

I workout more or less every single day and when I was trying to lose weight - or rather burn fat and gain weight if anything, but you get the point - I was counting calories and basically eating my BMR during the week, but with a decent amount of exercise on top. I could do that even having a beer on a weeknight if I wanted, if it’s added in. This is obviously where the discipline comes in, not overeating after workouts as you say.

Now I don’t need to do it anymore, but counting calories has given me a great appreciation for portion control and cooking great meals but still healthily.

Meanwhile I’ll have cheat days or rather cheat weekends, pretty much every weekend, and I can put away quite a lot of food and alcohol. I’m obviously not suggesting this as a good idea, but for me it’s in balance with everything else.

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, fightoffyour said:

You’re certainly right about different methods for different people because I would say the complete opposite apart from the discipline part.

I workout more or less every single day and when I was trying to lose weight - or rather burn fat and gain weight if anything, but you get the point - I was counting calories and basically eating my BMR during the week, but with a decent amount of exercise on top. I could do that even having a beer on a weeknight if I wanted, if it’s added in. This is obviously where the discipline comes in, not overeating after workouts as you say.

Now I don’t need to do it anymore, but counting calories has given me a great appreciation for portion control and cooking great meals but still healthily.

Meanwhile I’ll have cheat days or rather cheat weekends, pretty much every weekend, and I can put away quite a lot of food and alcohol. I’m obviously not suggesting this as a good idea, but for me it’s in balance with everything else.

Yeah the cheat days work perfectly for me. It's not so much the actual day, it's the lead up to it.

If I'm extra hungry on a Thursday and tempted to eat over my calories then I'll think to myself "No, don't worry. 2 days and you can eat whatever you want!"

It's just that motivation to get you through the week.

 

For me I wake up on a Saturday, weigh myself empty and then eat whatever I want that day. I'm good for the other 6 days

[fightoffyour]

1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

Yeah the cheat days work perfectly for me. It's not so much the actual day, it's the lead up to it.

If I'm extra hungry on a Thursday and tempted to eat over my calories then I'll think to myself "No, don't worry. 2 days and you can eat whatever you want!"

It's just that motivation to get you through the week.

 

For me I wake up on a Saturday, weigh myself empty and then eat whatever I want that day. I'm good for the other 6 days

Yes exactly. It could be Thursday night and you hold off having a beer or some crisps or whatever, knowing that you’ve allowed yourself to eat and drink whatever you want the next day.

Of course you may consume more additional calories on the cheat day than that extra treat you resisted, but it’s all about building that discipline to prevent overeating constantly.

[Stevo985]

Different things work for different people. I personally have to count calories because I just have an enormous appetite.

I've said on here before that I read about a condition where you are always hungry. Like an insatiable appetite. I genuinely think I have something like that. If you put food in front of me I could always eat it.

So even when I eat healthily, which I do most of the time, unless I control what I eat via calorie counting I will always put on weight, because I'm just never full.

 

If I have an absolutely huge meal then I will obviously get full, but it doesn't last very long. After an normal sized meal I very very rarely think "Yeah I'm full". In fact it's usually "I could eat two more of those"

[Stevo985]

Just now, fightoffyour said:

Yes exactly. It could be Thursday night and you hold off having a beer or some crisps or whatever, knowing that you’ve allowed yourself to eat and drink whatever you want the next day.

Of course you may consume more additional calories on the cheat day than that extra treat you resisted, but it’s all about building that discipline to prevent overeating constantly.

Exactly.

I've had cheat days where I've eaten truly obscene amounts of food and it's never stopped me losing weight that week. Would I lose more if I didn't have the cheat day? Probably, if I stuck to the diet. But I think there's far more chance of me not sticking to the diet without that cheat day on the horizon.

[AVFC_Hitz]

What I've found with cheat days is that, the more you build up to them the more disciplined you kid of are on the actual day. At the beginning I earmarked my cheat day after 1 month from the start of the diet. I think was an obscene Dominos order. The next cheat day I regulated myself more. Not from self-control but more from I couldn't be arsed to get that much food. There is a Turkish restaurant near me that does an amazing mixed grill and it does for me that a large meat feast, and wings does.